Follow-up study on Trade Union practices on non-discrimination and diversity

In the last few days, Ares 2.0, in partnership with the university Unitelma Sapienza, sent its candidacy for the call for tenders of the European Commission DG Justice “Follow-up study on Trade Union practices on non-discrimination and diversity.”

The aim is to implement a comparative research project, combining qualitative and quantitative methodology to provide a reconstruction of the anti-discrimination trade union practices implemented by trade unions in 39 different European countries.

The scientific coordination of the project has been entrusted to Professor Ida Regalia, who will be assisted in her work by a team of experts in the field of industrial relations, ethnic and gender discrimination and European legal structures.

In order to ensure an effective collection of data, in addition to the staff of Ares 2.0 and of the Unitelma Sapienza Telematic University, a dense network of young international researchers has been set up, operating in different European contexts, who will have to contact trade union organizations and collect the information necessary to carry out the study.

The research activity, in fact, provides for the mapping of all anti-discrimination trade union practices carried out by trade unions belonging to the European Union Confederation of Trade Unions (ETUC/CES) and the construction of a database that allows their first classification and quantitative analysis. Subsequently, the 45 most significant experiences will be analyzed in depth through the carrying out of as many case studies.

This research path will lead to the publication of a final report outlining the main features of anti-discrimination trade union practices within the EU. In particular, the report will try to highlight the factors that encourage the success or failure of such practices in order to provide some policy guidance.

Finally, the results of the research will be presented at a final conference in Brussels, where not only trade union representatives, but also a wide range of international stakeholders will be invited to participate. This is an important element because the ultimate aim of the project is to stimulate reflection on the issue of inequality and discrimination, involving the different actors that can in various ways favor real processes of social inclusion.